Elsie.
Oh, Travis! my unmaidenlike transgression,
In what a light must it appear to thee?
Travis.
Unmaidenlike, thou say est! Ah, as high
As are the heavens above the earth, as wide
As lies the East divided from the West.
So is thy step from impropriety.
'Tis true, the charm of gentle womanhood
Blooms in the even path of sweet retirement.
In the pursuit of calm domestic life
O'er which, as Springtime strews the earth with flowers,
She sheds a grace of loveliness and peace.
And wantonly to overstep these bounds.
By nature set, is to destroy her balance.
But when the hand of stark Necessity
Has broken in upon a woman's fate
And threats to tap her feeling's holy fount.
When staking, offering up her all for one.
When disregarding usage, scorn and power.
Acknowledging no law save this: her love,—
At last she rises like an earth-born Titan
And irresistibly, victoriously
Clears every obstacle that blocks her way.
She adds the highest earthly glory then,
A heroine's halo, to her womanly crown.
